


Mark's Confession

by krellinad (anonymousorly)



Category: The Social Network (2010)
Genre: Corporate banquet, Love Confessions, Love Letters, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:21:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27437251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anonymousorly/pseuds/krellinad
Summary: epic!fail profession of love. Years after the lawsuits, Mark properly professes his love and Eduardo, after thinking it was a poor joke, believes that Mark is dying. [tsn-kinkmeme prompt]
Relationships: Eduardo Saverin/Mark Zuckerberg
Comments: 1
Kudos: 39





	Mark's Confession

Chris tapped on the door of Mark’s office, waited a few seconds, then opened the door just enough to poke his head inside. Mark spared him a glance before looking back down at the large yellow notepad in front of him, wiggling the pen between his fingers.

“You need to come out here pretty soon.”

“I know. I will.”

Chris bit his lip and asked worriedly, “What are you doing? You’ve been locked in here all day.”

“I’m locked in here every day.”

“No, no, I mean–”

Mark waved a hand at him. “I’ll be right out. Promise.”

When Chris gave a nod and shut the door, Mark sighed loudly and leaned back in his chair, eyes not moving from the paper he had been working on all day. He counted how many blocks of blackout scribbles there were and regretted not using pencil, even though he hated pencil and how smudged the lead got. He could still read it, hell he probably had most of it memorized from thinking so hard about each word and rereading it constantly over the last six hours. Six hours later and he produced one and a half pages. It reminded him of college essays.

Mark picked the notepad up, read over the front and back one final time (he swore this would be the last “final time” because he really did need to get out to the quarterly review reception), and gave a nod to himself before folding the paper into his pocket. That piece of paper held everything that Mark ever wanted to say to Eduardo and, yeah, they may not have talked in four years, but time was only an unstoppable factor in life and it didn’t affect Mark’s feelings for Eduardo; not even lawsuits and yelling could change how Mark felt.

Hand in his pocket and fingers protectively wrapped around the paper, Mark walked out of his office and made his way down to the stairwell, going down to the first floor where the ballroom was. The ballroom was used only for special gatherings like this one to accommodate the large number of people that were involved in Facebook. Entering the grand room and seeing how many people there were, it reminded him all over again that he succeeded at something. He often forgot when he entered Facebook’s building each morning, would see Chris and Dustin, and look for Eduardo for a second before realizing he wouldn’t find him.

He made his way across the room slowly, people stopping him at every step to shake his hand and pat his back. He smiled shakily, uncomfortable, and replied appropriately with his preplanned responses.

“Finally decided to show up!”  
“You know me, coding is crack.”

“How’ve you been?”  
“Same as ever.”

“What took you?!”  
“You know me, coding is crack.”

“What’re you working on next?”  
“I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you.”

“How’s everything going?”  
“Same as ever.”

“We’ve been waiting for you! We’re all starving here!”  
“You know me, coding is crack.”

He made it to the table that was in front-center of the stage that was set up for the review presentation and sat down, downing the warm water that had been sitting in the glass for a while before waving a waiter over to refill it. Everyone knowing that Mark was finally there, they made their way to their seats and settled down, lights dimming except for the ones directed on the stage. Dustin sat next to him and the rest of the table filled up with people he barely knew anything about except that they were very rich.

Chris was the first one to speak, giving the introduction and going over what would be discussed by pointing at a PowerPoint slide.

Mark leaned over to Dustin and whispered, “Did you see Wardo?”

“Yeah. Looks fine and seems happy.” Dustin narrowed his eyes a little, raising his beer bottle to his lips. “Why?”

Mark and Eduardo’s relationship was an extremely strained one. They saw each other once a month since executive meetings happened more than company meetings and tension formed from the ground up between them each time their eyes first met. Repeating the words “be professional” in his head helped Mark when he had to, had to, shake Eduado’s hand before and after each meeting; Mark was the company and Eduardo was a part of it like everyone else so, as such, he had to be treated similarly.

Mark regretted tricking Eduardo every single day, he’d told Eduardo this, but Eduardo didn’t regret suing him, telling him it was for more than money but also to teach Mark a life lesson. Mark was still trying to figure out what the lesson possibly was.

For about the first year, when they had to shake hands, it was a strength and tolerance contest, squeezing as hard as they could while keeping their poker faces. They exchanged words in quick, sharp tones. “Good seeing you, Mark.” “Thanks for coming.” “See you next time.” “Safe flight, Wardo.”

Then, during one conference in March, Mark forgot to squeeze extra hard as he said, “Happy early birthday.”

It wasn’t that Eduardo forgot to squeeze; he only ever squeezed after Mark started it.

“Why?” Dustin repeated a bit louder.

Mark’s fingers rubbed over the paper in his pocket and he hoped that the sweat from his palm wouldn’t smear the ink. “Just curious, geez.”

Chris sat on the other side of Dustin when he was finished, the director of finances going up for his segment followed by advertising, technical support, human resources, and payroll.

About an hour passed full of updates and news until it was Mark’s turn to give the conclusion. Chris came up with him for support.

The room erupted into a loud applause at the sight of Mark and Chris, Mark blushing and looking at Chris in confusion. Chris nudged him gently, beaming, and handed him the microphone.

Mark’s eyes went over the crowd rapidly while he waited for them to quiet down. The faces of everyone not in the first three rows of tables were difficult to make out but he tried his best, especially after not finding Eduardo in the front rows. He would have to make sure co-founding shareholders were seated closer up.

“I would like to thank everyone for coming tonight and listening to us babble about things that are probably more important than they should be.”

The crowd chuckled and Mark’s eyes were still restless, searching and adjusting to the different variations of bad lighting. He spoke a few more sentences about the progress of the past four months and how excited he was for the future, which were all reworded from the last quarterly reviews because it’s not that anything that drastic has changed. Sure, more money and more this and more that, but to him, it didn’t matter. Facebook was still Facebook and it was doing fine. The end.

Dinner went as smoothly as it could, people randomly interrupting him while he was cutting his chicken breast to congratulate him or sipping on his water to compliment him on the presentation, which he had no part of but he wouldn’t tell them that. He would have to give the communications department a raise for lack of recognition.

The dessert trays came out and Mark grabbed an Irish coffee, stressed from how many people approached him in the duration of one plate of food, and chocolate cake. Chris frowned at Dustin when he grabbed two pieces of chocolate cake, one of apple pecan pie, three cranberry muffins, and a cherry turnover.

“The reason Mark doesn’t eat anything is because you get to it first, Dustin.”

Mark chuckled, licking his lips after drinking some coffee, and looked around to see Eduardo suddenly, sitting at a table a couple rows back that wasn’t visible before because the people sitting at the table in-between were in the way. People had started leaving after dinner, though not many, while others moved around to mingle and chat.

Dustin was right, Eduardo looked good, smile as wide as ever and eyes just as bright. Mark tapped his pocket, felt the texture of wrinkled paper underneath, and inhaled deeply. He had to do this.

Mark stood up and Chris asked, “Are you going to eat your cake? Dustin’s not sharing.”

“Sure,” Mark mumbled, not paying attention, and walked towards Eduardo’s table, eyes fixated on him and fingers sliding back in his pocket.

Chris, Dustin, and many other tables watched Mark as he approached Eduardo, conversations halting to get a better listen at what was about to happen. The dynamic between the two was a fascinating spectacle people were curious about, always wanting to see where they stood and how they acted.

Mark grabbed the back of Eduardo’s chair and said, “Hey.”

Eduardo turned around slowly, looked up at Mark, and, feeling too many eyes on him, forced a smile. “Hi. How’re you doing?”

“Same as ever.” Mark looked at the people sitting at Eduardo’s table before looking back down at him. “Can I talk to you for a–”

“You were kidding about not sleeping for two days…right?” Eduardo asked jokingly but it didn’t make Mark smile.

It was all for show, as it always had been for them. To convince the world that they didn’t want to rip each other’s heads off or slit each other’s throats. To tell the world that they were fine. Not terrific and magical but fine.

It made Mark’s stomach twist and his fingers twitched over the paper.

“Wardo, I really…need to talk to you.”

Eduardo pursed his lips, hearing how serious Mark was and wondering what it was he needed to talk to him about. Mark hadn’t needed to talk to him for about two years, when his childhood dog was put to sleep. Mark called him, breathing hard to hold back tears, and when Eduardo told him to just cry, he did. Their call log was timed at 1:02:38, about half of that time being Mark’s sobs, and no call had been logged since.

Eduardo stood up and followed Mark across the ballroom to the side where the bar was, no one standing there except the bartender on the other end. He glanced back at the tables, saw many heads turn away when he looked, and crossed his arms, shoulders hunching. He hated the position where he ended up, being seen as Mark’s ex-best friend and not co-founder.

Mark pulled the paper out of his pocket, Eduardo creasing his eyebrows, and smoothed the creases out the best that he could. There weren’t any major smudges, thankfully, though the paper was a bit damp.

“What’re you doing?”

“I could tell you but then I’d…” Mark stopped himself, shaking his head to get rid of the preplanned phrase. “I’ve…”

Mark realized that he didn’t write anything to flow into it, no prelude to explain what he was about to. He only wrote what he wanted to say since he first met Eduardo and was so focused on getting it right that he didn’t bother with anything to transition into it.

Deciding that he didn’t care, this wasn’t some speech for class where he needed transitions and eye contact, he began to read.

“Eduardo. We first met when Dustin brought you over after the stats class you two had together. You were polished and smelled like some expensive cologne yet you didn’t care the dorm was a mess and smelled like the two-day old pizza we had on the couch. You came into my room, smiled at me, and introduced yourself. I wasn’t going to bother looking at you until I smelled that musky scent…”

Eduardo stared at Mark intensely as he read, noticing how his fingertips tightened a little whenever his voice quivered. Mark kept his eyes down and trailing from one side of the page to the other, gradually making his way down as he talked about times Eduardo was shocked he remembered; that night they pulled an all-nighter during finals and, despite the different subjects, helped each other out, when Eduardo told Mark about his dad for the first time over dinner in the dining hall, and when Mark saw Eduardo wearing a suit for the first time, which was for a business club meeting, and told him he looked handsome.

Eduardo looked over at Mark’s table to see Chris, who was watching them closely, and Dustin, who was leaning over the table and eating frantically. Chris wouldn’t find this an acceptable joke and he didn’t think Dustin would either but, on the off chance he did, he would be giving obvious signs that he knew. Eduardo saw none of those signs so he figured they must not have known what Mark was doing.

“It was then, as you stared me down, as you called me an asshole, that I realized my instinct was correct.“

Eduardo looked back at Mark, who had turned the page over and was shaking a little more, visibly and vocally.

“I was in love with you. I was then and still am now.” Mark’s eyes flickered up for just a second before going back down. “I don’t know how I didn’t tell you before but I can’t keep it locked it away anymore. So, Eduardo, I love you. Sincerely, Mark.”

Mark gave a nod at the conclusion, shoving the paper back in his pocket less neatly, and waited for Eduardo, who had his jaw dropped, to respond. He hadn’t slapped him or walked away yet, so Mark felt he didn’t completely do the wrong thing, but with Eduardo, those two options could still happen. Mark waited.

Eduardo wrapped his arms tighter around himself and cleared his throat. “You’re…joking, right? You’re not serious…are you?”

“Quite, yes,” Mark easily replied, any signs of previous anxiety gone.

Eduardo tapped his fingers against his elbows. He was too overwhelmed to feel any kind of certain emotion. He hadn’t talked to Mark, really talked to him, in over two years. He was still upset with Mark for what he had done, mostly because he had yet to receive an apology. Now, Mark reads him a love letter. There may have been one emotion he was positive about: confusion.

Eduardo looked back at Chris, Mark following his line of sight. Chris’ expression was the same and Eduardo wondered if Chris did, in fact, know what was going on, since Mark claimed it wasn’t a joke. If it wasn’t a joke, which Eduardo was still considering, then it had to be something more drastic because Chris looked about ready to jump out of his seat.

Then, it came to him.

“Oh God,” Eduardo whispered to himself, snapping his head back towards Mark, who blinked dumbly at him. “Mark. Are. Are you okay?”

Mark kept blinking. “Am I…? I feel a lot better now that I told you–”

“No. No.” Eduardo unfolded his arms and grabbed Mark by the shoulders, not rough like Mark was expecting but still firm. “I mean, will you be okay?”

“Will…I be okay?”

Eduardo nodded, trying to contain the hysteria that was rising in his chest, and rubbed his thumbs over the back of Mark’s shoulders to sooth him. It worked but not enough to erase how lost Mark was.

“What is it, Mark? Tell me.” Mark kept blinking, frozen. “What’s wrong with you? Is it an ulcer? Ulcer complications? I always somehow figured you’d get one. Oh, God, please tell me it isn’t cancer, Mark. It is, isn’t it? Shit, it has to be. An ulcer wouldn’t get you like this. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Mark was speechless. This certainly wasn’t the reaction he had been hoping for, not even on the radar of a reaction he considered possibly. He tells Eduardo he loves him and Eduardo thinks he has cancer. How did those two relate to each other whatsoever?

“Why didn’t you tell me you had cancer, Mark? Why?”

Mark rose his eyebrows. “Because that would be lying?”

It was Eduardo’s turn to blink dumbly. “What?”

“You can be so dense for how smart you are. I just told you that I love you.”

“I know you did. But why? Are you hurt? Are you sick?”

Mark laughed softly to himself. He now understood. Eduardo thought the only reason Mark would tell him after so long was because something was wrong, not just because he wanted to.

Eduardo leaned a little closer to him, saying more quietly, “You can tell me. Anything.”

“I already did.”

“But what’s wrong–”

“I’m not sick. Nothing’s wrong.”

Eduardo loosened up a little, removed his hands from Mark, and wrapped his arms around his waist again. It wasn’t a joke. It wasn’t because Mark was sick. He had no more options to run to except that maybe Mark was being genuine. He didn’t actually think Mark would joke about this, it was sort of a first defense to avoid believing it, because it would be so unlike him. Mark wasn’t one to pull jokes, which was why he looked at Dustin for any clue. Dustin and him were okay, making him think maybe Dustin did it as a way to get Mark and him talking. Again, he truly didn’t believe that, either.

“I just wanted to say I love you. You can go sit down.”  
Eduardo shook his head, pressing a hand to his cheek thoughtfully. “No, it’s… Where is this coming from? Why now?”

“About a week ago, I woke up one morning,” Eduardo smiled to himself, knowing ‘morning’ meant probably two in the afternoon, “and I…you were absolutely gone. It hit me. You would no longer be a part of my life for as long as I live. It made me sad, duh, but then I figured, hey, if he isn’t going to be a part of it, there’s no hurt in telling him the truth. So.”

Eduardo rubbed his cheek before holding his hand out, asking for the paper, Mark handing it to him messily. Eduardo flattened it and reread the words, imagining Mark’s voice in his head as he went down the page.

“I’m not asking you to be okay with it and I’m not expecting us to reunite or anything. I just, for myself, had to do this.”

“For yourself,” Eduardo repeated gently.

Mark wouldn’t eat a meal to satisfy his body but he would confess his love to satisfy his heart. That said something to Eduardo. It wasn’t that Mark was selfish; he was just overly practical in his beliefs and view of the world and didn’t take into consideration any other kind of human qualities. By admitting his feelings, he wasn’t taking into consideration what the consequences or the outcome would be and that was what caught Eduardo off guard.

Mark did something for himself. Not for Facebook, not for reward. Himself.

Eduardo quietly sighed, staring at the back of the paper, at the ‘Sincerely, Mark.’ “I can’t…I can’t forget everything that’s happened. I can’t forget how you made me feel and how I still feel and what you did and how you did it–”

“I’m not asking you to,” Mark repeated, though his heart did ache a little. “I had to tell you. That’s it.”

“That’s it. Simple as that. To-do list of the day: Confess love to Eduardo, code chat box update.”

“It was actually work on timeline errors, fix the login bug, write Eduardo’s letter, show up at review, grow balls to talk to Eduardo, read Eduardo letter, update user security terms.”

As much as Eduardo didn’t want this to affect his feelings, it did. He was only human and when humans are told they’re loved, something inside them changes. It’s unstoppable. Of course Eduardo’s always had a special soft spot for Mark, that was unstoppable, too, even though that spot had gotten significantly smaller after Mark kicked him out of Facebook. It was now back to its full size with the letter in his hands and Mark’s voice in his head.

“Wardo, I mean it. You don’t have to say or do anything–”

“Can I keep this?” Eduardo licked his lips slowly and looked up at Mark. “It’s too much right now. This, it’s…making my head spin in a way that you couldn’t understand.”

Mark bit his lip nervously.

“I need time, to think and compose and contemplate and… I know you think life can move on unchanged and we can continue on like we had been, but now that I know this, it can’t. This changes everything and…I need time.”

“I-I didn’t mean for it to change everything–”

“I know you didn’t, Mark–”

“–and I didn’t mean to upset you–”

“You didn’t, hey.” Eduardo put a hand on Mark’s shoulder again, instantly calming him down from the panic that was building and threatening to escape. Neither of them needed that happening. “I’m glad you told me. I mean it. You’re asking nothing from me but I’m asking from you to give me time. Will you?”

Mark nodded. He’d given Eduardo every single day since their fallout and he would keep waiting until he died.

Eduardo smiled softly, thumb lightly sliding down the side of Mark’s neck. “And can I keep this? I can give it back later, if you want–”

“Keep it. My use for it is done.”

Eduardo kissed Mark’s cheek, both forgetting that there was an entire room of Facebook employees and staff and that many had their eyes directed at them, and whispered in his ear, “Take care of yourself.”

**Author's Note:**

> <https://tsn-kinkmeme.livejournal.com/10450.html?thread=19458002#t19458002>
> 
> **thank you for reading! kudo, bookmark, comment, and subscribe :)**


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